blog​

The Project

For my project, I decided to go big! I´ve always been extremely fascinated by outer space, and there happens to be a pretty big problem, just wait to be answered; how can we colonize Mars?

I picked this location for the site of the colony big it sits right on the cuff of the largest mountain in our solar system! Olympus Mons is an enormous inactive volcano, and putting the site right on the edge will allow the astronauts access to both the largest volcano in the solar system and the rest of the planet.

​Where To Start?

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I started by making a list of buildings and city components that are the most important to the success of a city. This list gives me a pretty good idea of how to start designing the layout of the city.

Then, I paired together buildings that become more efficient when together. This made the process of actually designing the city layout seem much less daunting.

With this list, I began developing a storyline to show the process of when and how each building would be build.

SITE

The site is designed to be unofficially grouped into four independently sustainable neighborhoods; each with its own lab (and farms) and residential building (and recreational area.) There is also one hospital and one cafeteria shared between two neighborhoods. The site is designed to comfortably grow adjacent to the population;

Pre-Human Shuttles

We plan to send two space shuttles up to the site, preceding the first group of astronauts. These shuttles will contain some of the folded buildings mentioned down below.

Buildings

Central Building

The central building will act partly as a town hall; binding together and uniting each 'neighborhood branch.' This building will also act act as a sort of community hot spot. People will be able to come here to escape the responsibilities of their martian lives and just be humans together.

Lab

Research is extremely important and should begin as quickly as possible, so the lab will be one of the first buildings to be built. Each lab will have a series of farm spaces extending off of them; with the primary goal for the team is to discover how to grow food on Mars.

Foldable Buildings

First Building

This building will be built immediately after the astronauts arrive, and will serve as a multi-function area.

Residential

The residential build is designed similarly to a college dorm hall; but much nicer of course. Each residential building is paired with another one, placed adjacent to the first, with a recreational area in the large open space. This will act as an exercise area and a de-stress area.

Cafeteria

I feel like the group of people being sent to Mars will be more like family than neighbors, so food shouldn't look the same as it does on Earth; grocery stores and restaurants. Instead, I feel that a cafeteria styled eating area will be a better fit. The majority of the space will be filled with standard cafeteria tables, so everyone can eat and stay in community. The cafeteria connects directly to the lab for easy access to the produce.

Hospital

The hospital was designed by accounting for all the important rooms and features in a typical Earth hospital. The emergency rooms are right along the wall as you enter for quick access.